My family is going through the classic Muppet Show (via Netflix) one episode disc at a time, and tonight we got to see Season 1, Episode 1 – the very first Muppet Show. They often did a “ballroom” segment, where various couples danced and told relatively standard jokes. In this episode, two pigs are dancing.
Pig #1: Do you prefer Shakespeare to Bacon?
Pig #2: I prefer anything to bacon!
<insert Statler and Waldorf old man laugh here> Later in the show, though, Kermit tells Juliette Prowse that he does not want to be accused of “gilding the lily pad.” I wonder if the writers that threw in the Shakespeare joke realized the connection?
I have the utmost confidence that the writers of the Muppet Show knew the origins of all their references. People had more general knowledge back then. And, earlier than the Muppets, look at the classical music humor in Bugs Bunny cartoons.